Acrylic polymers have been used in the biomedical field to make cell growth media, tissue adhesives, and to promote wound healing. For example, cyanoacrylates have been used for several decades as tissue adhesives for the surface closure of wounds. However, toxic effects of the cyanoacrylates prevented their use inside of the wound. More recently acrylics and related nitriles, amides, and vinyl ketones such as 2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate (HEMA), 2-hydroxypropylmethacrylate (HPMA), or acrylic functional derivatives of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) have been used as cell growth media and scaffold materials.